ce, the only sound the soft cra

rest of the world. The shadows were long and heavy, draped across the stone walls like the weigh

at gnawed at the edges of my consciousness, pul

es, willing th

t was

bo

dn't physically touched me in the way I'd feared. His words alone had done

fight it. I'd

nowhere to h

pulled the covers tighter, trying to ignore the gnawing ache in my chest. It was a strange sort of ache,

s there,

sleep. No

eyes closed, I

uzzle he had already solved, even though I was nothing like the women he usually surrounded himself with. I was no noblewoman. No powe

t, and I froze. I wasn't sure what to expect-whether it was a guard checking

m my face. I had no intention of letting him see me weak. No intention

lhouette of a tall, broad figure filled t

ci

a velvet whisper that slid under my

er right away

er my chest, trying to stand

on, his eyes never leaving me. The door clicked s

e asked, as if it were a sta

etorted, though the word

to my hands, still tightly gripping the blanket. "Yo

ep my emotions in check.

was nothing like the cruel smiles I'd seen

rom me, do you?" he asked

accept this?" I gestured to the bond, my voice sharp with anger and fear. "You thin

d right away. He

ence was

inally said, his voice surprisingly c

m his lips. He knew it. He knew me in ways I wa

rying to maintain my distance. "You can't make m

ion, and then back to my face. "You don't have to want it," he said, voice sof

though every fiber of my being screamed the opposi

them that unsettled me even more than his usual coldness. There was somethin

ow. "But you are mine, Aria. And I will protect you. You're not here

myself. He was close now. So close I could fe

ting the temptation to step back, to flee. But my

suddenly tender. "I'm here to offer you something more

ough my voice trembled.

early unconvinced. "Then

was like a storm inside me. A stor

voice barely above

ent, his gaze searching. Then, a

ning toward the door. "But we're not d

aving me alone with the overwh

ldn't shake. I pressed a hand to my heart, trying to ignore it. Try

matter how many walls I built, L

othing I could